Review: Oh! My Lady with Choi Siwon and Chae Rim is Full of Charm and Tugs at the Heartstrings

I’ve grown to become a big fan of Korean dramas. A Tagalized version of Lovers in Paris and the OCN drama Someday are the two series that first introduced me to the world of Korean drama and really are the two things that got me swept up in the Hallyu Wave.

With Philippine dramas in a rut these days and with the regular American TV season about to wrap-up, it couldn’t be a more perfect time for three Korean dramas to catch my fancy.

The first of these dramas is SBS’ romantic comedy Oh! My Lady starring Super Junior hunk Choi Siwon and the beautiful and talented Chae Rim.

Siwon plays Sung Min Woo, a very popular actor known for his less than stellar acting as much as his very good looks. Just a peek at his “chocolate abs” sends all the ladies wild. He also has a reputation of being a ladies’ man and a party boy.

Rim plays Yoon Gae Hwa, a single mother in her 30s trying all she can to find work and earn enough money to be able to raise her daughter.

The two first cross paths when Gae Hwa gets hired to be Min Woo’s housekeeper, but things get complicated when Min Woo gets shocked with a six year old daughter he never knew he had and Gae Hwa ends up being the only other person who knows and who must keep the secret or Min Woo’s career collapses.

And so starts the light, fun, breezy drama and comedy between Gae Hwa and Min Woo and his little daughter Ye Eun. Gae Hwa strikes a deal to help take care of Ye Eun while continuing to work for Min Woo as a housekeeper-slash-nanny so she can eventually take care of her own daughter Minji whom she has entrusted to her no-good, opportunistic ex-husband.

Gae Hwa concurrently gets a job at a musical production company which has a total of four employees, including herself.

Oh! My Lady features a couple of subplots including the supporting characters, but the main attraction is definitely Gae Hwa and Min Woo.

Siwon and Chae Rim are just absolutely charming and their chemistry really carries the show. You just can’t help but smile when they’re on screen. Their relationship develops as Min Woo tries to come to grips with having a daughter and the fun and hilarity ensues.

Kim Yoo Bin plays the adorable, sweet and oh so cute Ye Eun, who does not speak a single word possibly because of trauma from absent parent figures, Gae Hwa’s best friend says (who happens to be a child specialist).

The three of them just light up the screen, especially when they are together and watching the growth between them and especially of Min Woo is fun to watch.

The series does not break any new ground and doesn’t seek to, but it does what it sets out to do.

A light romantic comedy/drama that often tugs at the hearstrings thanks to little Ye Eun and her effect on Min Woo and also Gae Hwa, who misses her own daughter as well. It is this aspect that sets the series apart from other similar romantic Korean comedies.

Seeing how or if Min Woo can go from selfish, egotistical celebrity at 28 to caring father is played very well by Siwon who is only 23 years old in real life. Chae Rim also plays older than her age. She plays a 35 year old ahjumma (or middle-aged woman) and while she herself is 31 years old, she looks younger than she really is so at first it is hard to believe she is a middle-aged divorcee. But her talent shines through and her charming personality works very well here.

The series comes to a satisfying conclusion. While even with a simple premise, I feel like they could’ve done so much more, Oh! My Lady overall is fun and just simply a joy to watch.

A harmless, yet often touching and fun family-friendly series about love and family. I definitely recommend the series if you’re looking for a light, sunny escape.